Romance: MCR
by MyChemicalDreamer
Summary: It seems I can't write a story nowadays without the main character being anorexic...
1. My Anorexic Romance

Let me begin by saying I'm not one to believe in love at first sight. I don't usually fall for guys I know or even guys I've seen around school, I'm the kind of girl who has meaningless crushes on celebrities that are far too old for me anyway. That being said, there's a first time for everything…

It all started on the first day of my junior year in high school. Well, the first full day. I was standing in the hall with my friends between sixth and seventh period when _he_ walked by. He was slender, of average height, and pale, with jet black hair that reached a little past his ears. He stopped right near where I was standing and looked down at his schedule. I took advantage of the fact that he was distracted and analyzed his face. He had deep hazel eyes, a long, angular nose, and narrow, soft pink lips. Overall, he was stunning. I could've stared at him for much longer, but he had apparently found where he needed to go next, because he walked away.

Suddenly, someone was snapping their fingers in front of my face. "Erica! Were you staring at that guy?" Chelsea asked, loudly. I snapped back into reality.

"No!" I exclaimed. The rest of the group looked at me and shrugged. "Well, I gotta go. Remember, cheer practice is right after school on the football field." I quickly departed and made my way to my next class, studio art. I was the first one in the room when I arrived, so I sat in the back. I took out my sketchbook and began to doodle a portrait of Bruce Dickinson. People began to file in and they all sat closer to the front, knowing better than to bother me while I was drawing. The seats slowly filled up until the only one left was next to me. Just as the bell was ringing, I heard someone run into the room to avoid being late. The boy came and sat next to me. I didn't bother to look up and see who it was.

The teacher began her insufferable lecturing and I continued to draw, tuning her, and the rest of the world, out. Well, I was trying to. At least until the guy next to me said, "That's a really good drawing." I smiled.

"Thanks," I replied, looking up at him. I was stunned to realize that it was the same guy I'd seen in the hallway.

"I'm Gerard, what's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Erica," I said, "You have a very interesting name, Gerard. I like it." He grinned and I thought I saw him blush a little.

"Thanks," he replied, "So, you like Iron Maiden?"

"Yeah," I said, "This really looks like Bruce to you? I didn't think anyone would be able to tell."

"Seriously? It looks great," he replied. I smiled again.

The teacher glared at us, silently telling us to shut the hell up. We did, and I went back to my drawing. Gerard took out his sketchbook and began drawing something, too, but I couldn't see what. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him glancing at me from time to time, but I couldn't be sure.

A short while later, I finished my drawing. "Hey Gerard," I whispered, "What do you think?" He looked over at the page and smiled.

"I love it," he replied, "Can I see the rest of your drawings?"

"Sure," I said, handing over my sketchbook. He flipped through it, taking time to look at every portrait and random doodle that it contained.

"Amazing," he muttered when he was done.

"Thanks," I replied, "Can I see what you were drawing?" He blushed, seemingly racking his brain for an excuse to say no.

"Um… it's not done yet. Maybe later," he said.

"I'll hold you to that," I replied, smiling. Just then, the bell rang. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya," he said.

Eighth period came and went, and finally it was time for practice. Before I went out to the field, I quickly changed in the bathroom and pulled my long black hair into a ponytail. I was one of the first ones there, and everyone else showed up a few minutes later. We don't have a coach at the moment, and probably won't for the rest of the season, so as captain, it's my job to run practices. We started off going over our dance a few times. Everyone knew it well, so we didn't spend too long on that. Later, we stunted. We only have three flyers, and I'm one of them. We worked on our pyramid first, for which I'm in the center. At some point, four boys went and sat in the back row of the bleachers. None of us really took notice. We started working on single group stunts. The other flyers were working on extensions and libs, but I was working on bow-and-arrows and needles. (Now you see why I'm in the center for the pyramid.) The groups of five went off separately to work on what they needed.

My group and I started off with scales and scorpions. While I was in the air, I noticed I knew one of the boys in the bleachers. It was Gerard! He didn't appear to have noticed me. Once I was back on the ground, I asked my group if they would keep me up long enough to say hi to him next time. They agreed, of course teasing me a little, accusing me of liking him.

The next stunt we did was a heelstretch. "Gerard!" I yelled. He turned around, noticing me immediately. I used my free hand to wave to him and he waved back, smiling. I maintained eye contact with him as my back spotter counted off and I twisted down. "Okay, guys!" I announced to the whole team, "Great practice. You guys can go, I'll get the poms." The team dissipated, leaving me alone on the field. I started picking up the poms we had brought out to practice the dance with and throwing them into the oversized clear storage box that we kept them in. The box was too big for me to pick up on my own, so I grabbed one end and dragged it toward the gym. It was no easy task, with my backpack hanging from my shoulder in addition, but I managed. Suddenly, someone grabbed the other end and picked it up. I changed my grip on the handle so I could turn around and see who it was. Gerard, of course. "Thanks," I said.

"No problem," he replied, smiling. We put the box in the sports equipment closet in the gym.

"I just wanted to say… that was really cool, what you did up there," he said.

"Oh, the heelstretch? I have much cooler stuff than that," I replied, "This, for instance." I did a needle.

"Being that flexible should be a crime," Gerard said. I smiled and came down. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," I replied, "I'm kidding. Shoot."

"Could you maybe model for me sometime, so I could draw you?" he asked.

"I'd be honored," I said, "But wouldn't you rather have someone pretty?"

"Why would I want someone pretty when I already have someone gorgeous?" he asked.

"Shut up," I replied, blushing.

"Seriously, though," he said, "You _are_ gorgeous."

"No I'm not, I'm ugly and fat," I replied.

"Did you really just say that? You are not fat! In the dictionary next to antonyms of the word 'fat', they have a picture of you," he said. I laughed.

"You speak lies!" I replied. He smiled deviously. Suddenly, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "What are you doing?!"

"Proving it to you," he said.

"This proves nothing, you're just strong!" I replied.

"My little brother is stronger than me," he said.

"Whatever. Can you put me down now?" I asked.

"Nope," he replied, beginning to walk toward the hallway.

"Where are we going?" I followed up.

"To my car. I'm taking you to my house and you're modeling for me," he replied, "That is, if you're not busy."

"I'm not," I said.

"Good," he replied. Thank god there was nobody in the halls, because that would've been embarrassing. He didn't put me down until we reached his car. We both got in and the ride to his house was short.

On the outside, his house was beautiful. It was a 2-story Victorian, painted cream colored with white trim. He led me inside and down to his room, which was in the basement. "Now, before we begin…" he trailed off. He jumped on me and pinned me to his bed, holding my arms down so I couldn't fight. "Admit you're not fat or I'll kiss you."

"Is that a threat…" I began "Or a promise?"


	2. My Art Class Romance

Gerard smiled. "That depends, what do you want it to be?" he asked.

"Just shut up and kiss me," I replied. He obeyed, moving his hands off my wrists. One went to my shoulderblade and the other to my hip. I dug my nails into his back, not meaning to hurt him. It was just a habit. Most of my ex-boyfriends used to complain about it, though Gerard didn't seem to mind.

Just then, the bedroom door opened and someone gasped. My worst fear was that it would be his mom, but I saw that it was a boy, maybe a year younger than us, who looked a little like Gerard except that he had light brown hair. "Mikey…" Gerard said, giving the boy a look.

The boy was smiling now, almost laughing. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt anything," he said, "Gerard, I just wanted to give you this." He handed Gerard a piece of paper and then left the room, closing the door behind him. I saw that the title on the top of the page was Battle Of The Bands.

"You're in a band?" I asked.

"Yeah, with my brother and our friends Ray and Frank. We're called My Chemical Romance," Gerard replied.

"Cool," I said.

"We're really bad, though. We probably won't do this contest," he replied.

"I'm sure you're not _that_ bad," I said. He smiled.

"Now where were we?" he asked, "Oh yeah, you were about to admit-"

"That'll never happen," I interrupted.

"I'll get you eventually," he replied.

"Moving on," I said, "You wanted me to model for you."

"Yup," he replied, taking out his sketchbook, "Can you do that thing you showed me in the gym?"

"Sure," I said. I got up, stood a few feet away from the bed, and did a needle. He sat on the bed Indian style with the book on his lap and began to sketch me.

Right at the point where I couldn't hold it for any longer, he announced he was done. I crawled onto the bed next to him and looked at the page. His drawing literally looked like a black and white photo of me. "There are no words to describe this except for… wow," I said.

He smiled and replied, "Thanks." Just then, it occurred to me to check the time on my phone. It was nearly 6:00.

"Fuck, I have to go home," I said.

"I'll drive you," he replied, reaching for his keys.

"No, that's okay. I only live a few blocks from here," I said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, grabbing my backpack and walking out the door. I said goodbye to Mikey, who was watching TV in the living room, on my way out the front door.

I had lied about living a few blocks away. It was actually closer to about two miles. I liked long walks, though. A little exercise never hurt anyone. That was part of the reason I didn't have or want a car… the other part being that I couldn't afford one, anyway.

As soon as I got home, I started on my homework. Yes, even though it was only the first week of school, I had homework. That's what I get for being such a fucking overachiever and taking all AP classes. Once I was done with that, I took a quick shower and went to bed.

The next morning was just like any other. My parents had already left for work and wouldn't be back until after I was asleep. That's how it had been for as long as I could remember. I walked to school alone.

On the way to my locker, I spotted Gerard and Mikey. Gerard was getting books out of his locker and Mikey was leaning against the cold metal two lockers away, talking to him. Most people in my position would have just kept walking, or maybe gone up and said hi. Not me. I saw the perfect opportunity to scare the living shit out of Gerard.

Mikey had spotted me by now and I put my finger to my lips, the universal sign for 'shut the fuck up'. I snuck up behind Gerard and jumped on his back. He didn't even flinch. "Oh, hi Erica," he said calmly.

"You saw me coming, didn't you?" I asked.

"No, I just don't get scared easily," he replied.

"Whatever," I said, getting off of him.

"By the way, are you ready to admit anything?" he asked.

"I told you, that'll never happen," I replied stubbornly.

"I'll get you eventually," he said.

"Keep dreaming," I replied.

"What period do you have lunch?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Fourth," I said.

"Me too," he replied, "See ya then?"

"Definitely. Where are we meeting?" I asked.

"Under the big oak tree in the courtyard," he said.

"M'kay," I replied. We went our separate ways. First through third period flew by and finally it was lunchtime. I went out to the courtyard. I'd expected Mikey to accompany Gerard, which he had, but I didn't expect to see the other two guys that were with them. I recognized them as the guys from the football field the day before.

"Hey," I said as I approached.

"Hi Erica," one of the guys I didn't know replied, "Gerard's told us so much about you. He said that- ow!" That was the point where Gerard smacked him upside the head.

"Please go on," I prompted, "I'd like to hear what Gerard said."

"Just that you're really pretty and he really really likes you," the boy replied.

"Oh, thank you," I said to Gerard. He blushed.

"So this idiot is Frank and that's Ray," he introduced the boys to me. They both waved and I gave a little nod in return. They all sat down in the shade under the tree and Gerard motioned for me to sit next to him.

"I think I'll stand," I said.

"Why?" Gerard asked.

"The ground is dirty," I whined. He rolled his eyes, grabbed me, and pulled me down onto his lap.

For the whole period, we talked about music and art and, well, everything. I found out these were the other guys in Gerard's band and that Mikey played bass, Gerard was the lead singer, Ray played lead guitar, and Frank played rhythm guitar. Before I knew it, the bell rang. Gerard walked with me to my next class, even though it meant he would be late for his.

Seventh period finally came around and when I got to the art room, Gerard was already there, waiting for me. Once everyone had arrived, the teacher announced, "Class, the Autumn Art Show will be this Saturday, so I'm giving you the rest of the week to work on your projects, should you choose to enter. You may use any of the art supplies in this room, but please, don't get paint everywhere."

"Kinda soon to be having an art show…" Gerard commented quietly, "You gonna do it?"

"Yeah," I replied, "How about you?"

"Yup," he said.

"You'll be a worthy adversary," I replied.

"As will you," he said. We both got to work right away.

We each grabbed an 8x10 canvas board and began sketching. I was secretly drawing a portrait of Gerard, which I would later color with copic markers. I had no idea what he was drawing, but from the look on his face, it had to be some kind of profound work of genius. The bell rang too soon for me. "Meet me here after school," Gerard said as we were putting away our canvases. I nodded.

Throughout eighth period, I couldn't stop wondering about what he wanted. Once the final bell rang, I practically ran to the art room. When I arrived, we were the only two in the room and he was sitting at the table nearest to the front. "Hey," he said when I walked in.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you'd model for me one more time," he replied.

"Sure," I said, setting my backpack down on the floor.

"Here's the thing, though… please don't think I'm weird, but I need you to take off your shirt," he replied.

"Can I leave my bra on?" I asked.

"Of course," he said.

"Alright," I replied. I shut and locked the door before removing my t-shirt.

"Put your hands on your hips… turn a little more to the right…" he instructed, "Perfect, right there." He began sketching on the canvas in front of him, looking up at me every 15 seconds or so. Surprisingly, I didn't feel awkward. I trusted Gerard, despite not having known him for very long. I felt as if he was a childhood friend.

Finally, after what must have been a few hours, he said, "Okay, that's good for today." I put my shirt back on. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Sure," I replied, "Thanks." When we got out to his car, I told him my address.

"You lied yesterday," he pointed out, "That's not a few blocks from my house."

"Blocks, miles, what's the difference?" I replied. He rolled his eyes.

When we arrived at my house, he asked, "Can I borrow you again tomorrow after school?"

"Sure," I said, "But only if you model for me during class."

"Oh, you're drawing me? Fine, but no ridiculous poses," he replied.

"Don't worry, I just need your face," I said.

"Alright," he replied.

"And I'll be sure to wear a nice bra tomorrow," I remarked. He smiled.

"By the way," he said, just as I was getting out of the car, "You ready to admit anything?"

"Hell no," I replied.

In the days leading up to the art show, we spent a lot of time together. He modeled for me during class and I modeled for him after school. By Friday, we had both just finished. Neither of us had seen each other's work.

I was confident that I was putting in the best I had, but… I wasn't sure if I wanted to win. I worried Gerard might get upset if he lost to a girl. I didn't expect him to be that shallow, but you never know… On the other hand, if I lost on purpose, he might get mad at me. I ultimately decided to stick with what I had and hope for the best… Though I wasn't quite sure what the best was.


End file.
